


Family Portrait: Of Coffee and Christmas Trees

by portraitofemmy, rainbow_marbles



Series: Never Let You Go [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Christmas, Domestic, Family Fluff, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Sickfic, Soft Stucky Week 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 06:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8962945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/portraitofemmy/pseuds/portraitofemmy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbow_marbles/pseuds/rainbow_marbles
Summary: In the weeks running up to their first proper Christmas as a family, the first one with all of them living together in the same apartment and sharing the gift load, Steve gets a cold. It's still shaping up to be one of the best holidays Bucky's ever had.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Our contribution to [soft stucky week](http://iamnotsebastianstan.tumblr.com/post/152264652360/hello-friends-so-i-made-this-post-saying-that), though it did turn a bit more into soft kid fic than anything else, oops, sorry not sorry :P. We hope you all have a great holiday! Thanks to [bitchface47](http://bitchface47.tumblr.com/) for the beta.

In the weeks running up to their first proper Christmas as a family, the first one with all of them living together in the same apartment and sharing the gift load, Steve gets a cold.

Steve rarely gets sick, despite what he's told Bucky of his childhood illnesses, but the night before they're supposed to go get their tree, Steve's got a cough he can't seem to shake.

"Here, just drink this, it'll help," Bucky says and tries to hand Steve a cup of herbal tea with honey and lemon in it, but Steve stubbornly refuses.

"I don't need the tea, I'm fin-" he tries and gets cut off by another wracking cough. He's currently curled up on the sofa with one of the soft, warm blankets Bucky's mother had gifted Bucky with last Christmas. He looks sick, skin definitely looking a shade paler, but he refuses to even acknowledge the possibility that he might be coming down with something.

“Yeah, you sound great,” Bucky says dryly, “You’ll be batting for the Mets by the end of the night.”

“Shut up,” Steve says weakly, and Bucky sighs, sinking down to perch in the hollow created by Steve’s body on the couch. Reaching out, he brushes Steve’s hair off his forehead, stroking gently when Steve makes a happy sound. Joey’s playing on the floor in front of them, Barbie doll placed in the back of a toy dump truck, so he can push her towards the castle constructed of blocks he and Bucky had built earlier in the night.

Steve’s watching his son, eyes fever bright and a little glazed, but that doesn’t stop the smile lingering around the corners of his mouth.

"Steve, I know you don't want to be sick right now, I fully understand that, but come on now. You're coughing, your nose is runny and you definitely feel a little warm. You're not fine," Bucky says gently.

Steve sighs heavily, burrowing down into his blanket a little more tightly. "I know, but this is our first proper christmas together," he says miserably. "You live here now and Joey is big enough to participate and get excited about things and we had so many plans..."

"I know, I know we did. And we can still do most of those things, but you need to take it easy and rest. It's not gonna be a fun Christmas for Joey if you get even sicker," Bucky says and leans over to press a kiss to his forehead. Definitely too warm.

"Don't kiss me, you might catch it too," Steve mumbles.

Bucky privately thinks that since this particular bug came home to them either from preschool or from their playdate group, if he hasn’t had it yet, he’s probably not going to. He has more exposure to both of those germ-incubation-groups than Steve does.

But pointing this out isn’t going to do them any good, just make Steve feel bad for missing out on things while he works. Instead, he rests his body weight a little more comfortably against Steve, so the other man is curled around him like a parenthesis, and starts rubbing his arm absently. Joey has gotten his Barbie into her castle now, and when he notices them watching him, he smiles and waves.

“Daddy’s sick,” Joey says to his Barbie, and Bucky smirks triumphantly at Steve.

Steve glares at him weakly and sticks his arm out from under the blanket. "Fine, give me the tea."

"You need to sit up first, or else you'll spill it all over yourself," Bucky says and Steve gives him another glare before he scoots up the couch and settles himself up against the armrest. He's not fully sitting, but Bucky will take it. "Here, it's probably cooled down enough for you to drink," he continues and hands the cup over, pretending not to notice how Steve curls around the extra warmth gratefully.

“Why don’t we watch a movie?” Bucky suggests, because as long as they’re all stationary and cuddled up, Steve will probably actually rest without complaint.

Joey’s head perks up from over his blocks, already excited. “Rudolph?” he asks, clearly excited, and Bucky can practically feel Steve suppressing a groan, just as he does himself. In the barely two weeks since Thanksgiving, they’ve already watched Rudolph at least nine times.

“How about a different movie, buddy?” Bucky asks gently, and Joey pouts, but not the kind of pout which means he’s gonna dig his heels in about something.

Joey’s face scrunches up, clearly thinking very hard, which is so adorable Bucky has to bite his lip against giggling. "Snoopy," Joey says decisively and okay, they've seen that this year already too, but it's not nearly as grating as Rudolph. Yet.

"I'll put it on," Bucky agrees and Joey cheers, picking up his Barbie to come and join them on the couch. He's big enough to climb up himself, but Bucky doesn't want him crawling all over Steve while he's holding the tea, so he picks him up and sits him down in his empty spot as he gets up to set up the DVD.

"I wanna sit with Daddy," Joey complains.

“Let Daddy put his tea down first then,” Bucky prompts, because Steve seems to be zoned out again and kind of unaware of what he’s holding. He does put the tea down, twisting a little so he can set it on the end table next to the arm of the couch he’s leaning on.

Bucky watches him open his arms to his son with a tired smile, how Joey carefully climbs into his dad’s lap and into his arms. Smiling to himself, he turns away, finding the DVD on the shelf, and goes about putting it in the player.

“Feel better soon?” Joey asks, quiet, and Bucky can hear Steve laugh.

"I'll be fine in a few days, I just need some rest and cuddles," Steve answers and Bucky knows even without looking that Joey's just snuggled deeper into Steve's embrace.

"What about the tree?" Joey asks sadly and when Bucky gets up to return to the couch, Joey is indeed plastered to Steve like a limpet.

"You and I will still go buddy," he says as he sits back town by Steve's legs. "Daddy will stay home and rest and you and I will pick an amazing tree for him."

That earns him matching pouts, Joey’s so alike Steve’s in miniature that Bucky has to laugh. “You can help us decorate,” he promises Steve, who’s looking at Bucky like he personally canceled Christmas. “We’ll just go get it. If you stand out in the cold for an hour, you might be sick until Christmas day.”

“No!” Joey say quickly, his head whipping around to look at Steve. “Don’t be sick on Christmas!”

Steve sighs, sensing defeat, and Bucky gives him a sad smile. He comes back to the couch, settling in close so Steve can tuck his feet under Bucky’s thigh. “Sorry, sweetheart. There’s always next year.”

“He won’t be three next year.”

"He won't be, no," Bucky agrees. "But he’ll be four, and that’ll be special for it’s own reasons."

Steve's face softens slightly and he looks a bit less conflicted than before. "I guess you're right. I just hate missing out on stuff."

"We'll pick a really nice tree, won’t we, buddy?" Bucky asks Joey teasingly, patting Steve on the shoulder consolingly. 

"Big tree!" Joey says excitedly, giggling when Steve tickles him in response.

"We're not getting a big tree, we've discussed this. Just a nice regular tree that I can carry home by myself," Bucky reminds him.

"Big tree for Daddy!" Joey insists, turning his big pleading eyes on Steve.

“Papa’s gonna have his hands full with you by himself, buddy,” Steve says gently, brushing his fingers through Joey’s soft blond hair, which has grown long enough to curl at the tips. “He’ll get the biggest tree he can, but you gotta listen to him, and make sure you don’t run off or anything.”

“I won’t,” Joey says sulkily, and Bucky smiles. If there was any real concern about that, he would be going alone.

“Let’s watch Charlie Brown,” Bucky teases, nudges Joey gently. “Because _someone_ needs a reminder that all trees need love.”

“Maybe don’t get one _that_ small,” Steve says delicately, and Joey giggles at Bucky’s exasperated groan.

"Let's just start the thing," Bucky grumbles and presses play on the remote. The christmas special isn't that long and Bucky's already contemplating what to put on next, because he's fairly sure Joey will want to watch more now that he's all settled in. When Charlie Brown ends, however, they both notice the soft snores coming from Steve. His head is leaning back against the armrest and his mouth is hanging open, Bucky's almost certain that he's drooling too. He looks ridiculous, but at least he's finally getting rest.

"Daddy’s sleeping," Joey whispers.

“That he is. We should probably leave him be for a while,” Bucky suggests, looking fondly at his partner. “What do you say we do bath and teeth, and then I’ll read to you for awhile?”

Joey tilts his head considering. “Bath and teeth, and movie in the big bed?” he bargains, and Bucky narrows his eyes.

“Bath and teeth, then we can watch another short thing, and _then_ I’ll read to you. In the big bed, if you want.”

“Deal,” Joey agrees, and Bucky laughs quietly, standing as gingerly as he can and lifting Joey down gently so as not to wake Steve.

Joey still enjoys bath time, so it's no trouble getting him into the tub, getting him out though proves to be a struggle sometimes, because Joey refuses to accept that he can't sit in the soapy water for hours. Tonight he complies easily to Bucky's relief, probably in deference to Steve, because he knows he can't make too much noise, probably also because he was promised another movie. Bucky helps him put on his reindeer pj's (it's a theme this year) and helps him brush his teeth, and then Joey happily scampers to his and Steve's bedroom. Bucky follows him, closing the door behind them gently to keep any noise inside.

"So buddy, what do you want to watch?" he asks as he watches Joey climb on top of their bed. "And don't say Rudolph."

After a thoughtful pause, Joey suggests “Grinch?”

“Sounds good, pal,” Bucky agrees, perching on the edge of the bed so he can swipe open his tablet and find a stream of the movie that looks like it will load.

They cuddle down together in the middle of the bed, Joey tucked warm against Bucky’s right side, his head against Bucky’s chest. Bucky’s got the tablet propped up with his prosthetic, which won’t get muscle fatigue holding it, the flesh-and-blood arm holding Joey close.

“I like Max,” Joey whispers partway through the movie. “Max is a good dog.”

"He is yes," Bucky agrees. He has a strange feeling that statement is going to be followed by something else and he's not disappointed.

"Can we get a dog, Papa?" Joey asks just as quietly.

Bucky contemplates that for a moment. He likes dogs and he's pretty sure Steve is a dog person, but neither of them have ever brought up getting one. Their lives are hectic enough without another excitable little fluff ball in their lives.

"I don't know buddy, a dog is a big responsibility. You have to feed it and take it for walks and spend time with it. I don't think it's a good idea right now," Bucky answers honestly.

Joey seems to digest this, thoughtful kid that he is, and then nods. “Daddy has to work,” he says sagely, and that’s true enough, so Bucky lets it go.

Bucky forgot to grab books to read out of Joey’s room on the way out of the bath, but he’s saved from having to renege on his end of their deal by the fact that he’s got some children’s books loaded onto the kindle app on his tablet. Joey’s still excited enough about getting to swipe the touch screen that he doesn’t complain.

They’re part way through The Night Before Christmas when a shuffling noise makes Bucky look up. Steve’s leaning in the doorframe, still wrapped up in his blanket from the couch, smiling fondly at them.

"Hey sleepy head, done with your nap?" Bucky greets him.

"Yeah, done with the nap, but I think it's time to get some proper sleep now," Steve says and shuffles further into the room.

"Me and Papa are reading," Joey points out matter of factly and Bucky can't help but laugh.

"Yeah, me and Joey are still reading," he agrees. "But you can come and read with us until we're done and then it's bedtime for all of us."

Bucky hooks his arm more securely around Joey’s waist, so he can skootch them out of the middle of the bed and into his side, leaving Steve some more room to crawl into his own. He greets them both with a kiss, Bucky softly on the lips and Joey on the top of his head, before he settles down with a groan.

“Alright?” Bucky asks, concerned. He wonders if he should make Steve take a fever reducer, if that’ll help him sleep better. Steve waves away the concern wordlessly, though, and Joey tugs at his shirt to get his attention back.

“Papa, the story,” he says insistently, and Bucky laughs, turning back to the tablet

They get through the rest of The Night Before Christmas and Joey doesn't press for another one once Bucky points out that the sooner he goes to bed, the sooner they'll go look for Christmas trees. He gives Steve a big hug and a goodnight kiss before he lets himself be carried to his own bedroom. He's been insisting he can get around on his own lately and Bucky has to admit he's kind of dreading the day when he won't let himself be picked up at all anymore.

"Alright bud, good night, don't let the bedbugs bite," he says as he covers him up with his blanket.

"We don't have bugs," Joey points out and Bucky chuckles before he leans in for his own goodnight kiss.

“Night, Papa,” Joey says, kid-soft and trusting, and it still squeezes Bucky’s heart sometimes when he leasts expects it, the gripping pride and joy and terror of fatherhood.

“Night, buddy,” he replies, smoothing over Joey’s hair once, and dragging himself away, fighting the urge to linger by reminding himself that he’s got a sick partner waiting for him.

Steve’s eyes are shut when Bucky comes back into their room, but he’s not breathing like he’s asleep yet. Bucky kicks off his sweatpants in favor of crawling into bed in his boxers, given that Steve’s likely going to be generating a lot of fever-heat, and crouches by Steve’s side for a minute. “Need anything?” he asks, brushing Steve’s cheek with his finger tips.

"No, I just want to sleep to be honest. Come to bed and cuddle me," he asks, squinting blearily and not at all pathetically.

Bucky chuckles and runs his fingers through Steve's hair. "Sure, I can do that," he says, giving Steve a kiss before he crawls onto the bed and snuggles in behind Steve.

"Just wake me up before you leave," Steve mumbles.

"Hm?"

"I know you're not going super early, but if I'm still conked out when you go, wake me up. I wanna help him get dressed and watch him toddle around in his snow clothes," Steve says and Bucky pulls Steve closer, nuzzling at the back of his neck.

"Sure thing sweetheart," he promises. "Goodnight."  
___

Joey is typically a pretty earlier riser, which in turn forces Bucky and Steve to be, or risk having a three-year old awake and unsupervised in their apartment. It had been late night the night before though, and Bucky feels pretty safe setting an alarm for seven and assuming he’ll wake up before Joey.

This proves incorrect, when he’s woken around five am by Joey wriggling his way in between Bucky and Steve’s sleeping form. “What’s up, buddy?” Bucky mutters, and he _knows_ , he knows he should send Joey back to his own room if they’re going to sleep more. But he’s barely awake and he’s groggy, and his hindbrain is telling him just to curl around his child and sleep more.

"Daddy’s okay?" Joey asks in whisper.

Bucky is still half asleep, but his heart squeezes when his brain registers the words. Joey is such a caring little boy and it catches him by surprise every time he shows it.

"Daddy's fine," Steve mumbles, apparently also been woken up by Joey joining them. He shifts around slowly until he's facing them and lifts up the covers so Joey can crawl underneath. "Isn't it a little early for you to be awake?"

“Shh, sleep,” is Joey’s reasonable reply and Bucky can just barely make out Steve’s amused smile, which Bucky returns. He presses a soft kiss to Joey’s curls, and then lets his eyes fall shut again.

They doze like that for a few more hours, until the alarm on Bucky’s phone starts beeping. He gropes behind himself for it blindly, silencing the noise with a groan. Joey’s laying with his head on Steve’s shoulder, eyes bright and wide awake, watching Bucky calmly.

“Wanna make pancakes?” Bucky whispers, and Joey grins, nodding excitedly. “We’ve gotta be quiet though, and let Daddy sleep."

They get out of bed slowly and sneak into the kitchen quietly. Once there, he gets out all the things they'll need and pushes up a footstool against the counter for Joey to step on. He's too small to do anything but hand Bucky things, but he watches the process with fascination and makes 'ooh' sounds as Bucky flips the pancakes.

"Can you make Santa?" he asks when Bucky is almost done with the batch.

Bucky pauses, holding the bowl of batter in one hand. Joey’s looking at him all hopeful, and Bucky hates to let him down but… his pancake skills are not that good. “How about a snowman?” he suggests instead. “We can decorate him with fruit once he’s done.”

“Okay!” Joey agrees, excited, and Bucky very carefully pours the batter into three connected circles. He even manages to get the sizing fairly accurate, which he can’t help but be proud of. There’s a moment of trepidation when he has to flip the pancake, but he manages not to break it, and Joey cheers.

“Shh,” Bucky reminds him, ruffling the boy’s hair and helping him down off the stool so they can pile things in the sink. “Dad’s still sleeping.”

Joey quickly slaps his hands over his mouth, his eyes wide when he looks at Bucky, but when there's no sounds coming from the bedroom, he relaxes. "Sorry," he whispers and Bucky pats him on the head.

"It's okay. We'll save him some pancakes and you can go wake him up before we get ready to go look for a tree, but we should let him sleep for now."

"Okay," Joey nods and then dutifully helps Bucky clean up by pointing out all the spots Bucky has missed.

Joey is sticky with syrup and fruit juice by the time they’re done eating, and Bucky hustles him into the bathroom to wash up. He complains the whole time, naturally, but Bucky refuses to be one of those parents who say “kids are messy” and then let them be sticky for hours. There’s a couple of those parents in their queer-families meetup group. He hates those parents.

“We get the tree soon?” Joey asks, trailing after him as Bucky heads into the kitchen to put some hot water on the stove to make tea for Steve.

“Soon,” Bucky agrees. “Can you go pick out some pants and a shirt and then I’ll help you get dressed?”

Joey nods and takes off at a run before remembering himself and walking to his room at a more sedate pace. Bucky shakes his head at him and takes out a mug and the box of tea, waiting for the water to boil. He's got the tea all set up when Joey returns to the kitchen, looking around a corner and whispering, "Ready."

"Kay, let's get you dressed," Bucky says and leads Joey back to his room. To the surprise of no one, Joey has picked out a pair of jeans and a Santa shirt. The kid loves christmas just as much as his parents do.

Once they get pants and shirt and socks on, Bucky leads the way back into the master bedroom. Steve’s still out cold, which says as much as anything else about how sick he is, Steve’s as much of an early riser as his son. But he’s conked out, burritoed in the blankets and hair in disarray, and Bucky can’t help the warm swell of affection in his chest at the sight.

Joey clambers onto the bed to sit in front of his dad, and Bucky sits behind him reaching out to rub Steve’s back and call his name softly. Steve makes an unhappy noise, which turns into a cough almost immediately. Bucky winces, rubbing his back through the coughing. “Easy, baby,” he murmurs, and Steve groans.

"Okay, Daddy?" Joey asks worriedly and Steve reaches out to rub over his arm soothingly.

"I'm okay buddy," he croaks. "It's just a cough, sounds worse than it really is."

Joey doesn't seem convinced, so Steve sits up in bed, probably a little quicker than he should, judging by his pallor. He smiles at Joey though, and lifts his arm up so Joey can snuggle under it.

"I'll be fine, I promise. I just need more snuggles and that tea your Papa probably has waiting for me somewhere," he says and gives Bucky a knowing look.

“In the kitchen,” Bucky replies helpfully, and leans in to steal a kiss. Joey makes a ‘yuck’ noise, and Bucky rolls his eyes fondly. “I’ll go get it.”

He gives the two of them a moment of privacy, gathering clothes for himself from the dresser so he can change in the bathroom. After splashing some water on his face and brushing his teeth, he heads back into the kitchen to collect Steve’s tea.

Joey’s animatedly telling Steve about the snowman pancake when Bucky comes back, tea in hand. Steve’s still pale and drawn looking, but he’s watching Joey talk with such obvious affection, it makes Bucky ache.

Bucky places the mug on the bedside table and Steve smiles at him before turning back to listen to Joey talk.

"Sounds like a good breakfast, I'll have to make your papa make me some snowman pancakes sometime."

"Sorry, snowman pancakes are for little boys only," Bucky says as he sits down by Steve's legs. "You only get boring grown up pancakes."

Steve pouts at him and Joey looks at him for a moment and then turns a pout in Bucky's direction as well. It's adorable.

“Awww, sorry, sweetheart,” Bucky coos, kissing Steve’s forehead. “But I need to steal little man here and get him in his snow gear before it’s too late and the place is overrun.”

“I wish I could be going with you,” Steve sighs, leaning back against his mountain of pillows. “Stupid cold.”

“Stupid,” Joey agrees, and Bucky snorts, rolling his eyes and ruffling Joey’s hair.

“I’ll take pictures,” he promises.

"I suppose," Steve sighs. "Come say goodbye before you leave?"

"Of course, we won't go without giving you hugs and kisses," Bucky smiles and stands up again. "Come on Joey, let's get you all geared up."

After he's wrestled Joey into his snow pants and jacket he lets him toddle back to their bedroom where he proceeds to run from one end of the room to the other because he loves the swishy sounds the clothes make.

"Alright you little marshmallow, say goodbye to daddy," Bucky says and picks him up, leaning him down over Steve so he can give him a smooch.

"Bye my loves," Steve says fondly, ruffling his son's hair and then reaching over to brush Bucky's cheeks. His eyes are getting fever bright again, a little fuzzy. "My boys. I'll miss you."

Bucky grabs Steve's hand, pressing a kiss to his palm, a little worried about leaving him alone. "We'll be back soon. Try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Mmmhm," Steve hums, eyes sliding shut, and Bucky helps Joey get down off the bed.

"Bye, Daddy," he says quietly.

Bucky gets Joey out of the building and into the car easily enough, and they fill their ride to the tree lot with christmas songs playing on the radio. Joey sings along to all of them, even though he doesn't know the words. Bucky isn't really a fan of christmas carols and he doesn't sing, but he is absolutely weak when it comes to his kid, so when Joey asks, he joins in when 'Jingle Bells' comes on.

'A Holly Jolly Christmas' is just petering out when they arrive at the lot and Joey is still humming along when Bucky parks the car and goes round back to unbuckle him from his seat.

"Now, you stay close to me and hold my hand, okay? We'll go look at whichever tree you want, but you have to promise you won't run off on your own. There's going to be a lot of people here and I don't want you to get lost," he says to Joey.

"Won’t," Joey promises, holding tight to Bucky's hand. His eyes are huge, looking around at all the trees, all the people, the fairy lights strung up over the lot. "So many!"

"Yeah, there is. Do you remember coming here last year?" Joey shakes his head, eyes wide, and Bucky smiles. "You were still really little, but Aunt Becca came with us, and she looked after you while Daddy and I got a tree for us and for Nana Barnes."

"Tree for Nana too?" Joey asks, obviously excited at the prospect of looking for two christmas trees.

"No, she and Grandpa Barnes and Becca are going to chose their own this year, we're just looking for one," Bucky says, amused.

"Oh," Joey says, disappointed, and Bucky chuckles before he tugs on Joey's hand gently.

"Come on, let's go look at some trees."

They browse the rows of trees, stopping every time one catches Joey’s eye. There’s trees of varying sizes, ranging from just taller than Joey to well over Bucky’s head. Joey seems particularly drawn to the balsam firs, and keeps reaching out to touch them. His hands are going to be full of pine pitch, Bucky thinks privately.

“What about this one?” Bucky offers, pointing to a tree that is about as tall as he is.

“Too little,” Joey complains, making a face, and Bucky laughs.

“Okay, we’ll keep looking.”

True to his word, Bucky takes a lot of pictures, of Joey, of the tree lot, even a selfie or two of him and Joey. A while into their search Joey starts getting tired, and tugs on Bucky’s sleeve, making the grabby hands that have meant ‘up please’ since he was a baby.

Bucky smiles and picks him up, settling him against his hip. "You getting tired buddy?" he asks.

"Nu-uh," Joey shakes his head. "Wanna tree."

Bucky laughs and shakes his head. "Don't worry bud, we're not going home without one. We still have lots to see, you just keep an eye out for the right one."

Joey nods, laying his head on Bucky’s shoulder, and Bucky’s heart does the weird squeezy throb again. He hitches Joey more securely to his side, and continues their tour of the lot.

They end up stopping at the end of a mostly empty row, where one lonely tree is leaning against the rack. It’s pretty spare around the bottom couple branches, which Bucky thinks is probably the reason it’s been left behind. However, it fills out a lot around his shin level, and looks thick from that point on. They’re mostly in the habit of leaving the bottom of the tree ornament free anyway, because Joey tends to get over eager with shiny things.

“What about this one buddy?”

Joey lifts his head up to look at it properly. He squints at it for a few moments and then turns to Bucky. "Good," he nods.

"Okay, I like this one too," Bucky smiles. "Can I put you down so I can carry the tree up front?" he asks and at Joey's nod, eases him back down. He could probably look around for an employee to help carry it, but the place is pretty busy by now and Bucky would prefer to get Joey home as soon as possible,

"Hold onto me, no running off," he tells Joey once again when he has a good grip on the tree and Joey dutifully grabs onto his jacket and holds on tight all the way up to the register.

One of the lot attendants helps Bucky tie the tree to the top of the car, after he gets Joey safely secured into his car seat, and then they're on their way back home. The excitement of the morning seems to have tired Joey out a bit, but experience has taught Bucky that letting him fall asleep for a handful of minutes only to have to wake him up again to get him out of his car seat isn’t a good plan. He’ll probably need to nap when they get home, but for now, the sing along continues.

They’re just finishing ‘Rocking Around the Christmas Tree’ when they get to their street, and Bucky’s lucky enough to grab a free space next to their building. He briefly considers bringing Joey in to Steve and coming back for the tree, but Joey would fight not getting to be a part of the whole process, and Bucky doesn’t think Steve’s up to a tantrum right now.

"No running off," he repeats to Joey for what is probably the millionth time that day, but Joey seems so focused on the tree, running away anywhere isn't even on his mind. He watches with rapt attention as Bucky maneuvers the tree off of the roof of the car and gets a good grip on it. He stays close to Bucky's side as he carefully carries the tree inside and as a reward, he lets Joey press the button for the elevator even though it takes them an extra few minutes because Joey has to jump to each it.

Bucky has to put the tree down for a moment, so he can get their apartment door open, and as soon as he does, Joey runs inside yelling, "Daddy, we got a tree!"

Bucky sighs, quietly letting go of his plans to get Joey to nap with Steve, and resigns himself to the fact that Steve isn’t likely to be willing to stay in bed for much longer anyway.

He gets the tree leaning up against the living room wall, and then goes to track down Joey and get him out of his outdoor things. Steve seems to have made a start at it, anyway, because Bucky walks into the master bedroom to find toddler boots on the side of the bed and Steve groggily helping Joey off with his coat while he chats animatedly.

“Hey,” he says fondly, returning Steve’s warm smile. “You get any more rest?”

Steve nods. "I drank the tea you made me and then fell right back asleep. Might've been a mistake, because I feel like I got run over, but I honestly can't tell if that's the cold or sleeping forever. You two had a good time?"

"The best," Joey exclaims, lifting his arms so Steve can pull his sweater off.

Bucky laughs and walks over so he can lift Joey up on the bed and start tugging his snow pants off. "We looked at some nice trees and took pictures, it was very exciting," he agrees.

“Sorry I missed it,” Steve says sadly, and Bucky nods.

“I know, sweetheart. But I’ve gotta get the tree in the stand, and then we can decorate it? You can help with that.” Steve nods, and manages to get out of bed without looking too dizzy. Bucky still stops him once Joey’s run out of the room, and presses a hand to his forehead.

“I’ll be alright, baby,” Steve promises, voice heavy with affection. “I’ve been sicker than this before.

“I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be comforting, but you might have missed the mark,” Bucky says dryly.

They dug all of their Christmas decorations out of storage earlier in the week and stacked all the boxes up in the living room, so Steve sets up camp next to them. With Joey in his lap, they go through different items, sorting and organizing between tree-decorations and apartment decorations.

Bucky gets the tree all set up in the corner and then joins them to help with the sorting. Once they've divided everything properly, they move over to the tree and Bucky starts decorating the top while Steve and Joey take care of the lower branches.

"You gotta be careful Joey, don't wanna drop the ornaments and break them," Steve instructs carefully as he hand Joey a bauble and Joey nods seriously as he takes it into his tiny hands. He's so careful about hanging it up properly to where Steve directed him that Bucky has to pause and fish out his phone to start recording.

"That's it," Steve smiles proudly when the bauble is safely hanging from it's branch and hands Joey another one.

It takes them about an hour to get all the decorations on the tree, and by the time they’re done, Joey’s visibly flagging in energy. “Little man should probably nap before lunch,” Steve observes thoughtfully, as Joey clings sleepily to his shirt, having demanded to be held a few minutes ago.

“Probably not a bad idea,” Bucky agrees, finishing up getting their stockings hung on the mantel. Steve, and Bucky, and Joey between, with pictures of Peggy scattered all throughout, well loved and well remembered. “You want to put him down?”

Steve nods, and Bucky smiles to himself, heading into the kitchen to let them have their moment. He makes another cup of coffee for himself, puts some eggnog in it because it’s Christmas goddamnit, and puts on some more hot water for Steve’s tea.

Steve comes back out a few moments later and slumps over the kitchen counter, letting out a loud groan. Bucky walks over to him and runs his hand through Steve's hair soothingly.

"Joey asleep?" he asks and Steve only nods his head in answer. "Think maybe you wanna go lie down again too?"

"Noo," Steve whines. "I've slept for hours, I don't need more sleep. I need you, I missed you," he says and gropes around blindly until his hand finds Bucky's sweatshirt and grabs hold.

"I missed you too sweetheart," Bucky says fondly and leans down to kiss the top of Steve's head. "You need to go lie down though. You don't have to go back to sleep if you don't want, we can just curl up on the couch and watch something."

"Can that something not be animated or a christmas movie?"

“How about Die Hard?” Bucky suggests, scratching his fingers lightly against Steve’s scalp. “Totally not an animated Christmas movie.”

“It’s still a Christmas movie,” Steve says accusingly, squinting at him. “You play tough but you’re a big old holiday softie like the rest of us.”

“I’ve spent more Christmases in my adult life in the desert than I have in a place where I have access to corny holiday stuff. Sue me, I’m allowed some corny shit,” Bucky says cheerfully, nudging Steve off him so he can gather both their drinks and wander back to the living room

Steve follows him sluggishly and lays down on the couch, intentionally taking up all of the space. Bucky just huffs in amusement and puts the cups down on the coffee table before he turns to get the movie all set up.

"You gonna let me sit down?" he asks when he comes back over with the remote.

"No, but I'll let you lie down," Steve says and opens up his arms invitingly.

"Shouldn't I be the one doing that? You've got enough trouble breathing as it is, don't need me pressing down on your lungs," Bucky says dubiously.

"I forgot my blanket in the bedroom, so you'll just have to do," Steve counters, wiggling his fingers in a 'come here' motion.

Bucky snorts out a laugh, but does as requested, carefully climbing onto the couch so they’re slotted together, legs tangled, with Bucky’s head resting on Steve’s chest. His heartbeat is slow, steady, even under Bucky’s ear, and it’s more soothing than it really should be.

“Mmmh,” Steve hums, rubbing his hands across Bucky’s back like he’s testing the fabric of Bucky’s sweater. “Much better than my other blanket.”

“Thanks,” Bucky says dryly, but rubs his cheek affectionately against Steve’s sweatshirt nonetheless. “You’re a little firmer than I usually likes my pillows,” he mock complains, poking the muscle of Steve’s pec.

“I’ll work on that,” Steve says with a tired laugh, and Bucky grins, can’t help it.

“Please do.”

Bucky starts the movie and then not so carefully throws the remote on the coffee table. He spots the two mugs he brought out earlier and groans. "Steve. Steve I can't drink my coffee lying down like this," he complains.

"Should've thought of that earlier, you're mine now," Steve says and tightens his grip on Bucky.

"Noooo, but coffeeee," Bucky whines. "I put eggnog in it and everything."

"Shh, you're disrupting my not christmas movie," Steve chastises.

Bucky makes a mournful sound, looking longingly at his coffee. “You need to drink your tea,” he tries half-heartedly, and Steve groans.

“What magical or medicinal properties do you think tea possesses, that you keep plying me with it?” he asks, and Bucky angles his head up to glare at Steve.

“Tea when you're sick is a time honored Barnes family remedy, I’ll have you know. Besides, it keeps you hydrated and warms you up, both of which you need when your body’s trying to kill a bug.”

“I need to cuddle my partner more than I need to hydrate,” Steve says grumpily

"Ten minutes of snuggling and then we sit up and drink our lukewarm beverages," Bucky orders.

"Okay, fine," Steve sighs. "You're almost as bad as my Ma."

"Your mother is a lovely woman, being compared to her is a compliment," Bucky sniffs.

"I take it back, I like my other blanket better. It complains less."

Steve falls quiet, and Bucky gets a little sucked into the movie, but he’s not at all surprised that before even half an hour has gone by, Steve’s breathing has slowed to the steady pace of sleep. When Bucky squints up at him, Steve’s face is relaxed and soft, mouth open to breath through his stuffed up nose. He’s precious, adorable, and fuck but Bucky loves him.

They probably won’t make it through the whole movie. Joey’s going to wake up hungry, and that’ll wake up Steve. But until then, Bucky can lie here listening to his partner’s heartbeat, surrounded by cheerily glowing lights, while ridiculous people do ridiculous things on the TV screen. He can even handle his coffee getting cold. Coffee can always be reheated.

Even special holiday coffee with eggnog.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to come hang out on tumblr with us, we're [girl3wonder](http://girl3wonder.tumblr.com/) and [portraitofemmy](http://portraitofemmy.tumblr.com/). Thank you so much for reading!


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